It's great! Disney can keep the Muppets alive and visible.

It's awful! The Muppets will go downhill and quality will suffer.

I'm surprised no one mention this on the front page but Disney is on the verge of MAJOR CHANGES!!! Now I have mix feelings to this but in the end, saddly this was the best course of action. I say this because I have no faith in the Henson children they lacked what there father had apparently and that was VISION. There is a chance that Roy Disney will be successful in rooting out Micheal Eisner and we'll get a whole new creative team and we'll see a whole new AGE of disney.We might not...

Now onto the Muppets. If they had no sold them, where would they have gone? Nope this is the best way THe best case scenario is this, Disney lets JHC produce the shows and Disney markets & distributes it, the worst case scenario is disney whores them out and we don't see a good quality product ever again

I agree w/ Aaron here. Not to say since were friends. I have to sick by my Buddy. I sorry but if Brain lets it happens then well oh well. I'm sorry if everyone here is in some bad mood but if u don't sick together then well I guess its not going to go work and it will go down the drain. But I'm sicking w/ the Muppet and thats it. I don't think Disney could stop or any other things that have already been done by Muppets. I think its funny that everyone here is out of control. LOL

OK, I've had some time to think. So Henson has sold THE Muppets, characters that look like the Muppets (Muppet Babies), and BITBBH. And they've dissected the library and sold the "Muppet" parts of it to Disney?

I'll be effing darned. Man, I would love for the whole Henson character family and library to stay together (wondered about this a year ago after Valentine dropped out), but the Muppets and "Bear" ain't a bad deal. They're the big ones. Hmm...after all these years.

Whoa! I'm out of it for a little while to go to choir, and the world turns upside down!

I don't have much time to write at the moment, but getting beyond the extreme shock, I'm going to remain optimistic. At the very least, the Muppets will get new exposure and break free of the "nostalgia" trap. New Muppet productions is fine by me! What I truly hope is that the Muppet people retain their creative freedom, so that they can stay true to the heart that has made them endure for so long. Pixar, after all, stayed very independent (though they were never actually owned by Disney). Who knows--maybe the Muppets can bring the creativity, warmth, and heart back to the Disney corporation. I, personally, have enjoyed recent Disney fare (besides cheapie sequels), so maybe this is a good sign that both companies can get back on track...

I fear for the future of my beloved Muppets. I even fear for the future of Muppet Central. Case and point, http://snopes.com/disney/wdco/daycare.htm . If they'll do that to day care centers, I don't even want to know the wrath that might spawn forth regarding Muppet sites. Good luck, Phil.

With garbage sequels like Lady and the Tramp 2, Cinderella 2, and Peter Pan 2, I fear for what they have in mind with their new "prize". I look at my "(c) Henson" on Muppet things with pride. I will feel sick when I see "(c) Disney" on them. I'm not giving up on Muppets -- I just don't want to EVER see Muppets become pawns of Disney.

OK, I've had some time to think. So Henson has sold THE Muppets, characters that look like the Muppets (Muppet Babies), and BITBBH. And they've dissected the library and sold the "Muppet" parts of it to Disney?

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Yup, but the Muppeteers (as far as we know) and the Puppet Workshops are still retained by Henson so it isn't the clean cut it first seems. We also don't know whether Disney HAVE to employ Henson to work on Muppet projects or if they are just available to work on them if thats who Disney decide to go to.

It is soooo wierd, i mean who gets to look after the puppets? I'd love to know the answer to that one. I guess they'll have to hire the Henson Company to look after them and maintain them or something.

Wow this get announced and all heck breaks loose here, We blew out our old record of users on at the same time. "Most users ever online was 565, Today at 07:50 PM.", previously it was like 366 from sometime last year.

"Disney plans to make new television shows, video games, movies and other products with the existing characters as well as develop new characters in the coming years.

"We have been very impressed by how the Disney company treats its own characters," said Lisa Henson. "We feel if the Muppets are treated with as much care in the long term as Walt Disney's characters are, we will have properly served the legacy."

The agreement includes a four-year consulting arrangement with The Jim Henson Co. to provide strategic advice on the use of the characters and a three-year production deal to develop movies, television shows and other projects using the characters."

Y'know i hope this won't mean the return of Jim Hill to Muppet Central. I don't think i can take that, i got headaches the last time. He'd probably say that "sources" saw Michael Eisner reading a book on hypnotism and this must be how he got Brian to sell. Either that or he got a message in his "Captain Alphabet" cereal!

I don't have time to read over everyone's responses, but all I have to say is this.

Michael Eisner IS NOT DISNEY. Okay. Hate Michael Eisner, but don't hate the company. The Company is dedicated to creating entertainment and magic for children of all ages.

I work for Disney for Christ's Sake. I LOVE MY COMPANY! I love the magic that Disney gives people's hearts. The Muppets do the same. What a great marriage.

Do not base your like or dislike of this merger based on BUSINESS. Base it on the magic of a child's heart. Disney, I believe, can take the Muppets farther than any other BUSINESS/BRAND NAME could have ever tried.

The agreement includes a four-year consulting arrangement with The Jim Henson Co. to provide strategic advice on the use of the characters and a three-year production deal to develop movies, television shows and other projects using the characters."

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Great we'll see new stuff but the fairly limited timespan worries me - and interesting they have that extra year consulting but maybe not producing. I can hear the dusty draw opening and the Muppet Haunted House and Muppet Time Travel scripts having the cobwebs dusted off them.

I also noticed in the article they have been negotiating this for 6 months, so officially (though who knows what was said before) that would mean the minute the kids took back control of the company .... and Rivikin was trying to persude their partners this was not the reason they bought the company back ? Bah !

now that I think about it,Disney partnering up with henson in the early 1990's did well. there was the muppet christmas carol and dinosaurs that were fun it wasn't until the mid to late ninetys the muppets begin to slide

Things I want to be thankful for: The Henson kids aren't in charge anymore. When the master dies, it sucks to have the kids take over. Every time. There have been no major innovations with the Muppets for years now and the Henson kids were running the property into the ground, making minor advancements over the last few years. Denny's and Pizza Hut are the only companies using them right now, and even then only for minor commercial roles. So maybe it's time those two weren't in charge anymore.

Rerunning of the original show on disney channel in a decent timeslot. It has to happen!!! They rerun EVERYTHING on the 4 channels they have now! So this is very, very good. Even Muppets Tonight, which I've never seen will be rerun here so I can have SOME respect for Clifford and the crew.

New shows/ movies. OK, while you guys are all poo-pooing this idea, this could be very freaking great. Disney, when they put out original movies, do a phenomenal job of it. Nothing is done half-... Butted. They have some of the best writers in the business. OR have access to them. Let's see where this takes us!!!

Bad things: Does this merger/ buyout mean that there will BE no breaking away if things suck??? It doesn't sound like it. It sounds like the Muppets will belong to Disney, lock, stock and barrel. This may or may not be good.

Regarding the new shows/ movies (this was inspired by someone earlier thinking that Henson might or might not be used as puppeteers, and that there might be alternatives, or new ways to move the puppets...) I had no idea what the new way tomove the puppets would be (how else do you move a puppet for Pete's sake???)--- And this is the scary, nightmare thought I had. CGI. I hate to scare anyone, but it's a distinct possibility. They were the first to incorporate it into the Disneyworld Muppet 3-D show.

Dilution of the driving soul of the Muppets. If they don't keep the essence alive, things will go downhill fast. This has already been addressed by just about everyone, so I'll keep with your thoughts on that, cause mine mirror those more or less.

I hope this is a new beginning. I truly do. But if Disney forces the issues with action figures, I'm out. Straight out.

I can just see it, like that Rugrats Thornberries movie or the flintstones visit the jetsons show, it'll be the Muppets meet Mickey and friends. A animated short about Kermit and friends visiting Mickey and friends.